In short: Founders who hide behind screens instead of meeting prospects face to face are underestimating how deals actually close. Marnus Broodryk of The Beancounter and Mike Anderson of the National Small Business Chamber both argue that sales is a daily discipline, not something that happens automatically once the product is good enough.
Why do young entrepreneurs struggle to close big deals?
“Young entrepreneurs often underestimate the power of meeting people face to face, especially when trying to land big deals,” says Marnus Broodryk, founder and CEO of accounting firm The Beancounter and a Shark Tank investor. “They spend their days hiding behind computer screens hoping to build the next billion-rand company.” His point is direct: no amount of polish on a product or pitch deck substitutes for the relationship-building that actually moves a prospect toward a decision.
Are you selling what you like, or what the customer wants?
Broodryk’s sharpest warning is about a blind spot founders develop toward their own product: “As business people, we often become so immersed in our own product or service that we no longer consider that what we find special is not the same thing our customers are buying. We don’t think like our customers. Or we forget how to.” His fix is to consciously step into the customer’s actual buying motives rather than assuming enthusiasm for your own product translates directly into their willingness to pay.
Should you use technical language when explaining your product?
No, according to Broodryk: “Customers may not know or understand technical terms. They often just want a basic problem solved, and they don’t care how you do it.” Jargon that feels precise to a founder often reads as noise to a customer focused purely on whether their problem gets solved.
What should founders do instead of hiding behind a screen?
Broodryk’s concrete advice: get out and meet people directly, consider appointing a sales force on the ground rather than relying solely on inbound interest, and treat networking as genuine relationship-building rather than a box-ticking exercise. The common thread is physical presence and real conversation over passive digital outreach.
Why does Mike Anderson say “sales is everything”?
Mike Anderson, founder and CEO of the National Small Business Chamber, is blunt about what most SME owners get wrong: “They need to see quality prospects all day every day. They need to become the rainmaker of their own businesses. Sales is everything.” His advice is procedural rather than motivational: set a sales budget, work out a plan to achieve it, and know exactly what activity needs to happen each morning to hit the daily target, then repeat that process consistently.
What does Anderson say about listening versus talking in a sales conversation?
“Listen, be genuine and understand the client’s needs and get to know their pain. You need to recognise that before you can sell something, you need to know what the prospective client wants to buy,” Anderson says. His framing reverses the instinct to lead with a pitch: understanding the client’s actual pain point has to come first, or the pitch that follows is aimed at the wrong target entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Is face-to-face selling still relevant when so much business happens online?
According to both Broodryk and Anderson, yes, particularly for landing larger deals where relationship and trust matter more than a fast digital transaction.
How do you build a daily sales habit rather than sporadic pushes?
Anderson’s method: set a sales budget, know your daily activity target every morning, and repeat the process consistently rather than only pushing sales when revenue feels urgent.
What’s the biggest mistake founders make when pitching their product?
Selling what they personally find impressive about their product rather than what the customer’s actual buying motive is, according to Broodryk.
Originally published in February 2019. Updated September 2026.
